September Updates and BOV meeting Context
I Always imagined that the crashing and burning of an institution would be dramatic. As a historian I should know better. The good news is that the kids are mostly alright. Despite the efforts of the federal government, the Governor, the BOV etc. to destroy decades of good work faculty are teaching, students are learning etc. The bad news is pretty much everything else.
THE PROVOST SEARCH. UVa announced the launch of a Provost search on Tuesday September 9. This matters A LOT. Technically the Provost serves as chief academic officer which means that they oversee the essential business of the University; curriculum, advising, promotion and tenure. Also, things like student disability services, international student services, student affairs, report to the provost. The provost may not have the name recognition of a college President. But at a place like UVa the Provost has the biggest impact on faculty and student experience. The Provost works for and extremely closely with the President. So it's hard to understand how you hire a provost when you don't have a President.
WE STILL DO NOT LISTEN TO WOMEN AROUND HERE. The committee of fourteen has four women on it. This is old school UVa. There are exactly ZERO representatives from the humanities and arts even though the humanities have long been the strength largest school at the University. This is in part because UVa taught Eugenics well into the 1950’s so they did not get DOD funding and never caught up. From the college the committee has a math professor, an econ professor, a politics professor and biology professor. The Economics Prof told the Board of Visitors that DEI is immoral. The Law school representative is member of the federalist society. One of the BOV members who the Democrats did not approve and who vanished from the BOV website does get to remain on the search committee. the UVA today article is here.
THE PRESIDENTIAL SEARCH IS A SHAM. The Faculty Senate proposed a number of suggestions about the search. They BOV paid no heed. Campus Workers and the AAUP called for the search committee to resign because it does not represent key constituencies, and the committee was constituted under false narratives. Wahoos for UVa did a side-by-side comparison oft he 2017 and 2025 Presidential search. Among other things they say, “Instead of spending four months gathering input from every aspect of the UVA community, the Board of Visitors opted to post a survey on the presidential search website. The survey offers no indication as to who the survey responses are going to, and we’ve already heard through the grapevine that faculty and staff are scared to fill it out for fear that their responses will be traced back to them. Regarding community engagement opportunities, the presidential search website says only, “Work is underway to solicit input from a broad range of constituent groups and will include virtual and in-person opportunities.” Check out Wahoos4UVa here and sign up for their awesome newsletter. https://www.wahoos4uva.com/ or check them out here on facebook Wahoos4UVA
THEY ARE NOT TALKING…. State senator Creigh Deeds sent a letter to the BOV with many questions. They wrote back and didn't really answer them. re] Deeds, who is a very restrained and polite man said, “The response was not adequate … it’s not good enough for me that they say they’re in private negotiations. That’s crap,” Deeds said. “I really want information. I was trying to get clarity on the issues that I think the public deserves.” The Cavalier Daily covered this epistolary non-romance here.
THEY'RE HERE….. The BOV meets tomorrow and Friday; they went to a reception tonight. Sept 11 and 12. There is a rally in front of the rotunda on Friday September 12 from 1-3. The theme is “no decisions about us without us.” And “respond!!!” This action comes from a joint effort by the AAUP, the United Campus Workers and “the students.” For information on the BOV meeting see here. The website presents the schedule, agendas, handouts, and a zoom link. FYI The Vice Rector told the Faculty Senate about her fear of Polar Bears. I have a lot of swag from Bowdoin college whose mascot happens to be a Polar bear if anyone needs any.
MONEY The President sent out a dire message today about money. “Along with universities across the country, we continue to face significant financial pressures and uncertainty in the new fiscal and academic year.”
He instructed us to limit non-essential travel and purchase; more evidence that the humanities lack representation in these circles. WE HAVE NO DISCRETIONARY FUNDS EVER.
Searches might be postponed or delayed. (See above this happens always)
Capital Projects are deferred. (Also see above. We have been talking about a music building since I got here 19 years ago but the contemplative sciences center available to rent for 5K or so poppep up in no time complete with an immersive sound experience.)
FACULTY SENATE UPDATES have been fabulously informative though they are also rather dystopian. You can subscribe to the updates here. I just tried to subscribe with my Gmail account to see if it works for people without a UVa email account. You can follow them on Facebook too. Faculty Senate University of Virginia
SHARED GOVERNANCE The Jefferson Council says there has never been shared governance at UVa. This is not correct. And since they are not our students anymore faculty do not have to turn this into a teachable moment and can say, “You are wrong. You obviously did not take enough humanities classes as you seem incapable of actually reading documents and for a group of men so concerned with honoring history you do not understand it.” On this issue, the chair of the Faculty Senate quotes the Faculty Role in University Governance Policy from the BOV. “University faculty has played an important role in assisting the Board in fulfilling its responsibility from the University’s founding to the present day. Through the work of the Faculty Senate, a representative body consisting of members elected from each of the schools, faculty recommend approval of the establishment of new degree programs and major modifications to existing degree programs. Faculties also approve the conferral of all degrees and oversee the development of curricula in their respective schools and departments. Each spring, the Board of Visitors appoints a non-voting advisory faculty representative to serve on the Board. In addition, faculties serve as non-voting consulting members on committees of the Board of Visitors, as well as on standing administrative committees of the University, including the University Policy Review Committee, which reviews administrative policies. The Senate also provides the Executive Vice-President and Provost with advice and counsel on other academic matters. Through all of these mechanisms, faculty members share their expertise and insights on academic matters with the Provost, the President, and members of the Board of Visitors.” The policy is here.
COMPLIANCE REVIEW The University hired the very very very conservative firm McGuire Woods to conduct a review of our compliance with the federal anti-discrimination laws. These are the Trump anti-discrimination laws which actually discriminate but that’s beside the point. The process has been overseen by Farkish Thompson, a contributor to Project 2025. We do not have anything like independent counsel as all legal counsel works for the state attorney general. The President and Deans already circulated an Orwellian compliance document. Among other dangerous things this document prohibits anyone from seeking grants that from organizations that do not comply with University Counsel’s interpretation of Civil Rights Law. See this very excellent opinion piece by Laura Goldblatt, Melissa Levy and Bruce Williams.
The Chair of the Faculty senate asked “The University” a number of questions about this review. These include things like, “Do faculty have to participate in interviews by the compliance review?” The answer is, “The University fully expects those who are asked to participate in this review by McGuireWoods. “ If faculty participate, can they bring their own lawyer.?” The answer is a long-winded NO! (She wrote about this in the above-mentioned comprehensive update.) But on the plus they claim that faculty will not be questioned on research or teaching and that syllbi and grant applications will not be solicited. Let’s hope so….